Line marker



June 20, 1961 Filed Sept. 11, 1957 H. C. SWEET LINE MARKER 2 SheetsSheet1 INVENTOR.

HAROLD 0. SWEET ATTO R N EYS H. C. SWEET LINE MARKER June 20, 1 961 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 11, 1957 INVENTOR. l

HAROLD c.swEET 8Y2; E a:

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,988,763 LINE MARKER The presentinvention relates to devices or machines designed to paint lines onfloors, pavements or the like. 1 In many industrial establishments,garages, parking lots, pavedroads and other places, it is customary topaint lines to indicate lanes, stalls, etc. and such practice is quitegeneral. V

Among the objects of the present invention is to prw vide a device forpainting such lines and doing so with a minimum of effort. V V

Another object is to provide a device for the purpose indicated, bymeans of which'the placement of such lines may be made more accuratelyand in positions not heretofore possible. a Otherobjects will readilyoccur to those skilled in the art upon reference to the followingdescription and the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a sideelevation of a line marker produced according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the lower portion of the machine.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the same.

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the same.

FIG. 6 is a sectional View showing the valve mechamsm.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of one of the valves.

Referring first to FIG. 1 the machine is illustrated as consisting of atubular paint reservoir 10 fixed at its lower end upon a carriageconsisting of a pair of side plates 11 with cross members 11A and 11B,mounted upon wheels 12 situated at the rear of the frame.

The lower end of the reservoir 10 terminates in a tapered portion towhich is fixed a paint distributor 15, located above a paint roller 20,mounted at the front ends of the carriage plates 11. At a suitableintermediate position on the reservoir 10, is fixed a frame 10A having apair of wheels 103. This element serves as an additional carriage andalso as a fulcrum when it is desired to lift the lower carriage.

In order to permit painting of a line alongside of a wall, curb or othersimilar obstruction, the wheels 12 and 10B on one side of the apparatusmay be placed in alignment so that the paint roller described laterherein may be run fairly close alongside of such obstruction, beingspaced therefrom only by the thickness of the wheel and plate 11.

The upper end of the reservoir 10 is provided with a suitable handle 10Cin connection with which is a lever 10D operating the distributor valvesas described more in detail below. Also mounted on the carriage plates11, and conveniently by use of the bolts 10E holding the reservoir 10,is a line follower consisting of a jointed arm 25 carrying a small wheel25A at its free end, the follower being shown in raised or idleposition. When in use, it will extend forward of the machine.

The paint roller 20 consists of a suitable core carrying a long nap woolcovering capable of carrying considerable paint and being somewhatcompressible. At the end of the roller are mounted a pair of Washers 20Asufficiently large to extend to within a short distance of the peripheryof the roller 20. These washers serve two purposesthey limit thecompression of the roller surface and also prevent endwise spreading ofthe roller nap, thereby providing a sharp edge to the line of the paintmarking.

As indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the paint roller 20 is mounted in theplates 11 by having its axle extend through 2 slots 11C in the plates.These slots 11C are incline downwardly toward the rear. By so incliningthe slots, forward movement of the machine tends to cam the rollerdownwardly and thereby exert a pressure of the-roller toward thepavement surface.

The paint distributor 15, shown in detail in FIGS. 6 and 7 consists of apipe T, the stem 15A of which-opens to the reservoir and is coaxialtherewith. The cross member 15B of the T is mounted above and somewhatto the rear of the roller and parallel thereto. Cross mem ber 15B isprovided along a line diametrically opposite stem 15A, with a pluralityof evenly spaced openings into. which are screwed nipples 16, the innerconformations of which are such as to provide valve seats coacting;.withvalve members 16A. These members 16A consist of conical plugs fixed toscrews-16B passing loosely. througha bar 17 within the distributor 15B,Bar 17 is fixed to-;a suitable rod 17A extending throughstem,15A;an'd;res-, ervoir 10 to operative connection with the lever 10D adjacent handle 100, which is provided with a spring 178 tending toforce the rod 17A downwardly and thereby the bar 17 carrying the valvemembers 16A to valve closing position.

Each of the valve members 16A is provided with a small spring to allowsome movement of the valve member 16A relative to the bar 17.

Adjustment of flow through the nipples 16 is accomplished by changingtheir position by screwing them in or out. The use of the springs 16Cpermits proper opening and closing of the valves even if the nipples 16are somewhat difierently positioned. It is preferred to use the type ofscrew 16B, as shown; that is, one having a head with a conical undersurface, to prevent sticking.

As seems quite obvious from the above description, as the device isrolled along with paint flowing from the nipples 16 upon the roller 20,a paint line will be made upon the supporting surface. However, as suchsurfaces are often a bit rough and sometimes pitted, it is preferred toprovide means for smoothing the paint line and cansing the paint to flowinto the pits.

This is accomplished by mounting a fairly stiff brush behind the roller.Such a brush is shown at 30 and is indicated as being fixed in asuitable block 31 in turn fixed between the frame cross members 11B andadjusted to its proper position and held by a thumb screw 32.

By locating the paint roller at the front of the machine with nomechanism ahead of it, it is possible to continue a paint line from, forexample, a street paving up the vertical face of a curb, simply bytilting the machine upon the wheels 10B as a fulcrum. Other advantagesof the front roller seem obvious.

I claim:

1. A line marker comprising a carriage having forward and rear wheels,said carriage being supported only by said wheels in a substantiallystabilized position above a surface to be lined, a paint roller carriedby said carriage, said roller being disposed forwardly of the forwardwheels and retained by said carriage in contact with said surface, apaint reservoir also on said carriage arranged to supply paint to saidroller, means for distributing said paint upon said roller, said meanscomprising a plurality of valves each consisting of a nozzle and aconical valve member for closing and opening said nozzle, means forsimultaneously moving said conical valve members, and means whereby saidnozzles may be moved toward or from the conical members, whereby toadjust individually the valve opening.

2. A line marker comprising a carriage having forward and rear wheels,said carriage being supported only by said wheels in a substantiallystabilized position above a surface to be lined, a laterally elongatedpaint roller rotatably carried by said carriage, said roller beingdisposed forwardlyof theforward wheels and retained by said carria'ge incontact with said surface, said carriage having a paint reservoirdisposed substantially rearwardly of said roller and provided with alaterally extending paint distributor positioned close to andadjacentthe upper side of-saidroller, said distributor having a plurality oflaterally spaced nozzles and operable to supply a laterally elongatedstream of paint to the upper surface of said roller, and valve means forcontrolling said paint supply.

3. .The line marker as defined in claim 2 and in which said valve meanscomprises an individual valve mechanism-associated respectively witheach of said nozzles, andactuating means connected with said valvemechanisms and operable to substantially simultaneously actuatesaidvalve mechanisms, and means independently adjusting the position of saidnozzles relative to the valve mechanisms to independently regulate theopening and closing positions of said valve mechanisms.

4.-' The line'marker' as defined in claim 2 and in which said carriagehas means operable only upon forward movementofsaid carriage to exertdownward pressure on said roller.

5. The line maker asdefined in claim 2 and in which said carriage has apair of forwardly extending and laterally spaced supporting arms, eacharm having a slot arranged at an angle to the horizontal and extendingdownwardly toward the rear, said roller having projecting axial studsentering said lots to thereby support said roller between said arms,,said slots providing means whereby rotation of said rollers on onlyforward motion of said line marker operates to actuate saidrollervrearwardly with respest to said slots to exert downward pressureon said roller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS826,897 Shely July 24, 1906 1,379,249 Chelius May 24, 1921 1,548,383Pickersgill' Aug. 4, 1925 1,591,216 Langerwall July 6,1926 1,623,297Balsley Apr. 5, 1927 1,770,795 May July 15, 1930 1,826,801 LittlefordOct. 13,1931 1,931,848 Lane Oct. 24, 1933 2,549,722 Sweet et al. Apr.17," 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 532,739 Great Britain Jan. 30, 1941

